Rotation indicator for plug-cock type of valves



J. E. STOTT 2,639,113

ROTATION INDICATOR FOR PLUG-COCK TYPE OF VALVES May 19, 1953 Filed July 24, 1950 Patented May 19, 1953 2,639,118 oFrmE-a 4 Claims; (01. 'zsi -isr) The inventionrelates to a rotation-indicator: for a coil spring loaded plug-cock type of valve.

Prior to the invention, attempts have beezr made to provide devices which wouldindicate a given position of rotation of the-plugin a plugcock type of valve by a click sound at an intermediate point, or by increasednpressure beingv required. to turn the valve at the given position, or sometimes by both indications. In the prior constructions, the detentingaction was obtained by means of washers about the stem of the .valve, the washers having indentations and bosses which caused the detenting action. Inthesear rangements, the coil spring, which maintains the-plug of the valve in its sea't,--was\retained under pressure by bearing against the detent washers-so that there arose theserious disadvantage that as the plug of the valvewasrotated and the washers passed through their dew tenting position, there was amovement of at least one of thewashers in an axial direction of the stem of the valve,v therebycausing (a variation in'the pressure exerted by the spring. This was a serious disadvantage, since ina plug-cock type of valve it is important that the pressure on the load spring be neither too great nor tooylittle for, if it be too great, the valve will be-sticky and diificult to operate and, if it betoo little,- there is danger of leakage of fluid from-the valve.

Another vdisadvantage of the prior art arrange* ments was that failure of one of the partswhich formed the detenting mechanism, usually caused the entire valve to becomeinoperative, due-to the parts being interlocked.

The disadvantages of the prior art are overcome by the present invention by providing arotation indicator in which the surfaces which -co-- act to form the detenting mechanism are in: planes substantially parallel to the axis of the stem of the valve andare independent oirthepressure of the loadspring of the valve. A rotation indicator according to the present inven tion comprises a casing arranged to be mounted' coaxiall'y of the stem of the valveand about the load spring thereof, the casing having a-generally;v circular wall substantially parallel to'the stem of the valve and arranged to surround the load spring of the valve, meanswithin the casingiarranged to rotate with the shaft, said means hav ing at least one spring arm bearing against the inner surface'of the circular wall of the casing, the spring arm and the wall of the casing coacting to form a detent at a given degreeof rotation, and means within the casing forming a pressure bearing surface for the coil spring whereby the coil spring is kept at a substantially uniformpressure during rotation of the stem of the valve.

According :to the invention, it is preferred to have two'springarms-each having a projecting U-shaped= portionbearing "against "the innersurfaceof the circularlwall'of the casing at diainetri v call y opposite positions, and to have two fdiajmetrically i'opposite. U -'shaped recesses in "the c'ii cular wall' ofthe casing .to' receive the j U -shaped porti'o'nsyof thespring armsfithereby'forniingfa detentj With,thisarrangementthe diametrically opposed force's'exerted "by the spring arms' are substantially I cancelled, I thus reducing the possi-' bility of imbalanced radial "forces/acting on the plug of-thedvalve.

' The advantages of a rotation indicator accord ing tothe invention arise from the f fact "that' the 'dete'nting surfaces are in planes substantially parallel to theaxisof -the stem of "the valveand, therefore, do not cause variation in thepre's'sure of theflo'ad spring during'fdetenti'ng'". It 'is'fimi portant to note that; according to the invention;

the spring arm which forms pan-or the 'det'e'nt I mechanism has the sole' function of "indicating", by sound and feel when a given degreeof ro'tati of the plug of the valve has been'reached. Fu than a rotation indicator according -to gthe'in' vention is cheap to manufacture and can be 'p'r'e assemblecl 'as' a unit'with'fa base plate perman entlyi'enclos'ingthe component parts within their casing and "thecomplete rotation indicator as; semblyfcanfb attachedto; or removed fr'omja valve without unseating' the plug -of the valve;

The invention will be further described "with. reference to the attached drawings in: which a preferred embodiment is illustrated and, in which Figure l {is a sidevie'w f an assemble'd ro' tati'on indicator according to 'the invention; with the indicatoi mo'untedon' acoil springloaded" plug-cock type of, gas valve shown partly in crosssection; Y I

Figure 2 isjan exploded view of the rotation in'k dic'ator shownin Figure 1;

Figural? is a plan'view' of the rotation indicator" The plugicocktype of gas valve shownin Fig ure 1 isonly one'exa'mple' of a plug-'cockitype ofvalve'l construction with which a, rotation indicaetor according to the jinventi'on'may be used and is shown" to illustrate'the mounting and operation of therotation"indicator: The valve" has a body Ii -having an inlet port I I (shown indotted nne');

outlet "ports l2'and l3, and a taperedplugrfl f The plug I4 is seated in thebody Ill v and has an axial passageway. l5 and a pair of side passageways I B and 11 (see Figure 2) extending from the central passageway. I5 to the outer surfaceof the plxig MI The passageways and I! are arranged upon rotation of the plug ld to come into alignment with the inlet port H and with a side passageway I8 in the body l8 leading to the outlet port I3. The outlet port I2 is connected through a small opening 28 into the space 2| between the end of the plug i4 and the bottom of the plug seat 22 in the body I8 of the valve. The opening 28 provides sufficient gas for the low flame of a gas burner. A stem 23, of generally D-shaped cross-section, is formed integrally of the plug l4 and has attached to it a knob 24.

A rotation indicator 25, according to the invention, is shown mounted by screws 26 to the body l8 of the valve.

As shown in Figures 2, 3 and 4, the assembly of the rotation indicator 25 consists of a casing 38 having a circular wall 3| and a base plate 32 in which holes 33 are used in mounting the rotation indicator on the valve as shown in Figure 1. At one end, the circular wall 3| terminates in a turned-in rim 34 having an opening 35 of a generally circular shape. As shown in the figures, one side of the opening 35 has a smaller radius than the other side thereby providing the stops 38 referred to below. The circular wall 3| has a pair of diametrically opposite U-shaped recesses 31 which form part of the detent mechanism to be described below.

A stop plate 38 of generally disc shape is of such a diameter that it fits within the casing 38 and can rotate therein. The plate 38 has a D-shaped opening 39 adapted to flt closely over the stem 23 of the valve so that the plate 38 will turn with the plug |4 of the valve. The plate 38 has a turned-up stop lug 48 and a pair of turned-down driving lugs 4|. The stop lug 48 is arranged to stop against the stops 38 of the casing 38, and the driving lugs 4| are arranged to fit into recesses 42 in a spring arm plate 43. As shown, the spring arm plate 43 has an opening 44 through which the load spring 45 (Figure 2) of the valve can pass. The plate 43 has a pair of spring arms 45, each formed with a projecting U-shaped portion 41 (see Figure When the stop plate 38 and the spring arm plate 43 are assembled within the casing 38, the driving lugs 4| fit into the recesses 42 and the spring arms 48 bear against the inner surface of the circular wall 3| of the casing 38. Rotation of the stop plate 38 causes the spring arm plate 43 to be rotated with its spring arms 4'6 pressing against the inner surface of the circular wall 3|, and when the U-shaped projecting portions 41 of the spring arms 46 come into alignment with the U-shaped recesses 31 of the casing 38, they coact to form a detent. The detenting position is made evident to the operator of the valve by a distinct click noise and by a variation in the pressure required to turn the stem 23 of the valve. The stop plate 38 and the spring arm plate 43 are maintained in assembled relation within the casing 30 by a closure plate 48 having a central hole 49 through which the stem 23 of the valve and the load spring 45 may pass. The closure plate 48 has a pair of holes 58 in alignment with the holes 33 in the casing 38. Upturned collars 5| are provided about the holes 58 and are used to permane tly to fix the closure plate 48 to the casing 38 by passing the collars 5| through the holes 33 and spinning them over against the casing 38. The assembly of the rotation indicator 25 to a valve is shown in Figure 1 and, as indicated by Figure 2, the load spring 45 of the valve is seated between the stop plate 38 and the upper surface 52 of the plug [4 of the valve. It is to be noted that, by

having the hole 49 in the closure plate 48 of a smaller diameter than that of the top of the tapered plug |4, there is obtained the important safety feature of having the tapered plug locked within the body |8 in case of failure of the load spring 45. The closure plate 48 also is of advantage in preventing dirt from getting into the valve seat.

Since the detenting action of the rotation indicator takes place along the outer wall 3| of the casing 38, and this wall is parallel to the direction of the axis of the stem of the valve, there is no variation in the pressure applied to the spring during the detenting action. Moreover, failure of one or both of the spring arms 46 would not interfere with the operation of the valve since it would cause no variation of the pressure on the load spring 45.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. A detent mechanism for a valve, comprising a fixed casing adapted to surround a length of a valve operating stem, said casing having a generally circular inner wall substantially parallel to the axis of rotation of the valve stem, means within said casing having an opening to receive the valve stem to rotate therewith in either direction, said means having at least two diametrically opposed spring arms, each of which has a U- shaped portion bearing against the inner surface of said wall of said casing, said wall of said casing having at least two diametrically opposed U- shaped recesses to receive said U-shaped portions thereby forming a detent at a predetermined degree of rotation of the valve stem.

2. A detect mechanism for a valve as defined in claim 1 in which the generally circular wall of the casing has an inwardly directed flange surrounding the opening for the stem of the valve in said means within said casing, said casing comprising a plate retained by said flange and forming a seat for a valve load spring, and said flange and said plate being adapted to coact to form stops to limit the rotation of said stem.

3. A detent mechanism for a valve as defined in claim 2 in which the means within the casing arranged to rotate with the stem is driven by at least one lug and socket connection between said means and said plate, said means providing a floating connection between said plate and the circular wall of said casing by virtue of the resilience of the spring arms bearing against said wall and by virtue of clearance provided in said lug and socket connection.

4. A detect mechanism for a valve as defined in claim 2, said spring arms being integral with said means within said casing and in which the means within the casing arranged to rotate with the stem is driven by at least one lug and socket connection between said means and said plate, said means providing a floating connection between said plate and the circular wall of said casing by virtue of the resilience of the spring arms bearing against said wall and by virtue of clearance provided in said lug and socket connection.

JOHN E. STOTT.

References Cited in the flle of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 585,840 Dolen July 6, 1897 1,521,530 Hammerstrom Dec. 30, 1924 1,921,779 Roberts Aug. 8, 1933 2,161,070 McDonough June 6, 1939 2,177,370 McDonough Oct. 24, 1939 

